Adam Jones’ on-field problems

LAS VEGAS – Sitting here at the airport surrounded by gamblers feeding coins into the one-armed bandits, I couldn’t help but think of Adam Jones.

Jones has always been a gambler on the field, so I expect him to make his share of big plays this season – provided, of course, he is reinstated. But as Bill Parcells used to tell us, there’s another side to that pancake. There will also be occasions when he gets burned big time.

Jones didn’t take any unecessary risks last night in San Diego, but he had plenty of other problems.

His timing was bad and his tackling even worse. Chris Chambers shook Jones with impunity in the second quarter for a 21-yard gain. In the third quarter, Jones got flagged for pass interference, negating an interception by Pat Watkins in the end zone.

“There’s no way in hell I’m not supposed to get that route,” Jones said afterward of the catch by Chambers. “I knew what he was running because he was in a tight split. I said there’s only two things he’s running. He’s running a quick out or a dig. He went up 10 yards and pushed off a little bit. But you know, it’s preseason. Hopefully by the last preseason game, I’ll be focused and ready to go.”

OK, we’ll give him that. Last night marked his first game since December 2006. Naturally, timing would be an issue for anybody in his shoes.

But what about the tackling? By taking a bad angle on a screen pass to Darren Sproles, Jones allowed the speedster to go 21 yards. Jones also got burned when he tried to arm tackle Jacob Hester.

My guess is we’ll see a lot more of that from Jones. He’s never been in the class of Antoine Winfield, Al Harris or Chris McAlister when it comes to being a physical corner. But is it too much to ask that he drop the arm tackling and do it the right way?